Three children were killed in the explosion of a landmine, that was planted by the Islamic State group, in the city of al-Bab, in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, Enab Baladi News reported on Wednesday. The news outlet revealed that a landmine, which was planted by the Islamic State group, while controlling the city of al-Bab, in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, exploded, killing three children.
The three casualties are Ahmed al-Hussein al-Mohamed (11 years old), Hussein Ali al-Mohamed (12 years old) and Hamid Hussein al-Mohamed (5 years old).
According to a report issued by the “Ambulance sans Frontieres” organizations, the number of landmines casualties in the city of al-Bab has reached 77 civilians, including 6 women and 8 children, in addition to more than 100 injuries, while expected the injury of 200,000 persons due to the remaining landmines.
In the same context, Seven Islamic State members were killed as paramilitary troops foiled an attack near borders between Iraq and Syria on Thursday. A statement by the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) said, “troops of the 29th brigade managed on Thursday to repulse an attack by IS against units in Tal Sufuk, on Iraqi-Syrian borders.”
“The troops killed seven militants and burnt a vehicle. The remaining attackers ran away,” the statement added. Despite declaring the victory over IS in Mosul, the group’s former bastion in Iraq, observers say IS is believed to constitute a security threat even after the group’s defeat at its main havens across Iraqi provinces.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared, in July, victory over IS militants who had held the second largest Iraqi city since 2014. More than 25000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016. Having recaptured Hawija in Kirkuk, Mosul and Tal Afar in Nineveh and Annah and Qaim towns in Anbar, Iraqi troops still have only Rawa remaining under the militants control.
The war against IS has so far displaced at least five million people. Thousands of others fled toward neighboring countries including Syria, Turkey and other European countries, since IS emerged to proclaim its self-styled “caliphate”.
In Baghdad, Four civilians were wounded in an IED blast in west of Baghdad, a security source said. “A bomb placed near a market in al-Subaihat region, Abu Ghraib, exploded leaving four civilians, including a woman, wounded,” the source told Alghad Press on Thursday.
The source, who preferred anonymity, added that “security troops cordoned off the accident spot and transferred the wounded to nearby hospital.” Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
114 Iraqi civilians were killed, while 244 others were wounded as result of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly release by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), issued on Wednesday.
Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, coming in the first place with 177 civilian casualties (38 killed, 139 injured). Anbar province followed with 36 killed and 55 injured, and then Kirkuk with 18 killed and 33 injured.
The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016.
The total figure marked a decline from last month’s, which reached more than 500 civilians. The victims went down from 196, while the injured decreased down from 381.